woodsaint1

Sad state of affairs for our team if our system is heavily reliant on a right back who was third choice at Spurs. He's a great player and our player of the year imo, but the system needs to be more resilient next season. What if he gets injured for 6 months, is that season over for us? No othet team is so dependent on a full back

Are all the academy teams working off Ralph's playbook yet? If so, its definitely not a good sign for the future

Just put a few white stripes on the red and we're onto a winner

Would certainly take Tomas Vaclik, very solid goalkeeper with plenty of european and international experience. Sell McCarthy and let Vaclik and Forster battle it out for number 1

The under 21 Euros start next week and Diallo wasnt named in the France squad I dont think. To have only 5/6 away isnt bad, plus we should have Ings and Walcott back in training hopefully. Burnley will have the same if not more away on international duty - Pope, McNeill, Gudmundsson, Brady, Long and Vydra off the top of my head. It affects all PL teams so not much of an advantage the international break

What difference a year makes. Last year West Ham were staring relegation in the face after some poor recruitment. Now they're flying after some shrewd signings. The likes of Soucek (£14m), Coufal (£5m), Lingard (Loan) and Dawson (free) would have hardly excited the fans but have all made that team better and for buttons in todays market. In fact their marquee signing Benrahma hasnt really worked out so far. All with a manager who most of the fanbase didnt want to see back. Just shows what a transfer window or two can do for a club. Our recruitment the last few windows has been decent and lets hope that continues in the summer. Theres quality out there which doesnt involve busting the bank, which is likely the position we'll find ourselves given our current finances and Ralphs desire to add depth to the squad

Two poor sides and we managed to lose to both in the last month or so 🙄. Both desperately need a win as their run ins are very tricky

Redmonds shite 😂

I would agree, both very similar players but what JWP offers from free kicks and corners is arguably the best in the league and the reason why hes in the England squad right now. Fair play to him for the work he puts in on that front. Reed having a good season for Fulham. Fulham have a number of good individual players - the likes of Lookman, Anguissa, Andersen and Areola. But thats also their problem, cohesively they seem to struggle (Lemina wont help on that front either) and make some silly mistakes. Still think they will catch Newcastle, but will need Brighton to do them a favour tomorrow.

Theres a brief mention in the following article about Scudamore being a member of the Redball board. Also says that RedBall remain interested in 'soccer' teams and have another 18 months to identify an acquisition target. If a purchase is not completed within that time, its raised funds will be returned to investors. There is a significant amount of sports team ownership experience and funding behind them. https://www.sportspromedia.com/news/redball-spac-fenway-sports-group-equity-stake

The only trophies which matter and which we have any realistic chance of winning are the FA Cup and the League Cup. Get relegated from the PL and you can say goodbye to any small chances of either happening while we're in a lower league. Therefore staying in the PL is pretty important for genuine cup success. That being said, if you offered me an FA Cup win this season at the expense of our PL status and a few years back in the Championship, I'd take it. But then getting back to the PL would become our aim and the manner in which that happens would be irrelevant. The JPT win was a great time and mattered alot to the fans after years of heartache. It would have been good to have won the Championship and League One when we got promoted, but it all honesty who actually cares now. I couldnt tell you who won the Championship two years or three years ago, nevermind it was nearly a decade ago for us. Whenever the fans invaded the pitch home to Coventry and Walsall, were you sulking in the stand that we werent getting our name engraved on a trophy that mattered little in the grand scheme of things?

Alright Claude.....we heard you first time fs

Speaking of new managers. Our Nige is back in management with Charlton Athletic. Great appointment for him and good to see him back in management

Love the positivity....but have you seen us play in 2021 so far. Personally think we'll win this, although it'll be tight. 2-1 Saints. Che and JWP

A firesale wouldnt be a bad thing for us. Would force us to move on some of the jokers who have been weighing this club down for 3/4 years (some of whom we'll get pennies for anyways). And it wouldnt necessarily mean selling anything that moves. The parachute payments are a decent buffer for the first year or two. Just look at Norwich, Bournemouth and Watford who have been able to keep pretty much the same team they went down with. Certainly the latter two would have a considerable wage bill similar to ourselves. It becomes a serious problem though when you dont bounce back the first two seasons

Theres an international break on the horizon and an FA Cup Semi Final at stake, we dont need to rest players

Minamino is cup tied. Replace him with Redmond (Championship is his level isnt it) and the rest looks good. Can see Ralph sticking with Bednarek however

Our own players are even trolling the club/fanbase. The lack of fans at games has given players a comfort blanket and dilutes the significance of our bad run. If St Marys was packed yesterday those players would be getting absolute pelters for that performance and rightly so. Then they would maybe recognise the s*** we're in and avoid joking with opposition players/liking their social media posts

Ralphs playbook is having the desired effect I see. What is going on throughout the club!!

Bit a wasted thread in my opinion because I dont think Ralph will be going anywhere anytime soon. Whether thats a good thing or not, well the jury's currently out. Firstly, we've pretty much declared that we're all in with Ralph. He's allowed to make all the decisions on the footballing side of things and is working on the infamous 'playbook' which will dictate how all teams at the club will play (given the frustrating passive style of football we've seen in 2021, my excitement for the playbook's prospects is declining but time will tell). Given our investment in his ideas/philosophy, its highly unlikely we'll be sacking him, even with relegation. We cant afford it for a start given current finances and the fact that we're still paying off previous sackings. But it's also clear that we're playing the long game with Ralph, even if that takes us into the Championship (unlikely this season but next season? I wouldnt rule it out) From Ralph's perspective, why would he walk away from such autonomy. He wouldn't get this control at any other club in a top league. Not to mention Ralph's stock has taken a hit these last few months, so there isnt going to be much interest in him for a while from any clubs considered to be a step up. He could walk with relegation, but he appears to have emotionally invested a lot into the club and the plans he has. I imagine for his own pride he would want to stay and put things right by getting us back up.

This is embarassingly pathetic

Bertrand is absolute pish

After tomorrow we wouldnt have a game in hand. But a win tomorrow would essentially seal the deal for us. 39 points will be enough and with the likes of Palace, Burnley and West Brom to come we'll pick up 3 points there no worries. Thats the players incentive tomorrow, win and we close the door on Brighton, Newcastle and Fulham - making it a three way fight if it wasnt already. We can then turn our focus to the FA Cup

All for giving Elyounnoussi a chance, as you say hes done well at Celtic. Could probably do a better job than Redmond right now tbh. The rest - Valery, Vokins, Hoedt, Lemina etc are just not good enough (Lemina could be but hes never arsed). If we see attempts to reintegrate these players upon return then it points to a clear lack of transfers and proof we're in deep s***

Underwhelmed. We're that skint we've no other option but to consider players out on loan to provide much needed depth. They're out on loan for a reason. Buzzing for the return of Elyounoussi, Hoedt, Valery, Lemina and Vokins in the summer 😒💩💩